Movies for Kids?

I watched a lot of unsupervised TV as a kid. In those days there wasn't much on that was "objectionable" or "inappropriate," but I still saw some stuff that I probably shouldn't have seen. I also watched endless hours of inane sitcoms (I always say that the reason I don't have a Boston accent is that I watched too much TV as a child). For some reason the only show Dad didn't want us to watch was "Gilligan's Island." I don't know why, but that one struck him as beyond the pale in terms of inanity. Not "Hogan's Heroes" or "Bewitched" or "The Brady Bunch"? Regardless, we still watched it, and all the others. Is this why I watch no TV at all now? Who knows?

But Sundays were different. Every Sunday morning I watched a very overtly Christian program called "Davey and Goliath" followed by the nonsectarian "Gumby." Later in the day was the "Children's Film Festival," which I remember vividly. It was hosted by Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, who were already favorites of mine (Fran was a puppeteer and Kukla and Ollie were her puppets).

I specifically recall watching the film "The Red Balloon," and I have a vague sense that even then, I felt that I didn't quite understand what it was all about, although I was mesmerized throughout.

Another movie I remember was very upsetting. It was called "Hand in Hand," and all I can recall is that a boy and a girl are playing near a river, and the girl drowns. It was traumatic for me, and I only just learned from Wikipedia that in fact the girl does not die at the end. I must have known that at the time, but I didn't remember. I also didn't remember that the boy was Catholic and the girl was Jewish, and they thought that they weren't allowed to be friends. Coincidentally, since this memory only recently surfaced, the DVD of this movie will be released next month for the first time.

The final movie I remember was not necessarily from the "Children's Film Festival" series. I remember watching it at my grandmother's house, and I thought I saw it all alone, but my cousin remembers seeing it with me. It was called "The Boy with Green Hair," and it was also very upsetting. All I remember is that a boy woke up with green hair, and that felt very alarming to me. I learned from Wikipedia that the boy was a war orphan and was played by a very young Dean Stockwell.

Any of these ring a bell to the other old-timers out there?

Comments

[Rachel]

Thanks for bringing me back! I fondly remember Kukla, Fran and Ollie. I too remember watching the Red Balloon hosted by them.
We also loved The Rifleman with Chuck Connors.
And nothing could be better than coming home from school to grilled cheese, tomato soup and Bewitched. Those were the days my friend!

[Karen]

So funny you said that! We used to sing a song that went "Soup and sandwich, soup and sandwich...!" I remember sitting down to our little TV trays!

[Elena]

Soup and sandwich, soup and sandwich... wasn't that to the tune of "Love and Marriage (go together like a horse and carriage)?"

I remember waaaay back when Bewitched was on in prime time and I wasn't allowed to stay up late enough to watch it. I think it was on at 8:00 pm.

How could anyone not love Gilligan's Island?

[Elena]

Oops. I just Googled it and apparently Bewitched was on at either 8:30 or 9:00 when I was a kid, so I guess I was allowed to stay up later than I thought. It was always so tantalizing because it started with that animation, so naturally I wanted to stay up to watch!

[Karen]

Yes, that's the tune! What was it from???

[scott]

Too much TV when I was a kid lead to me not watching at all as an adult. I do have a few good TV memories, though: Eating folded slices of pizza in the dark on the couch watching the original Star Trek (then already in syndication). Little else from the 70s elicits a positive response from me now. Except of course Sesame Street.

[Susan]

The movie I remember most from my childhood is Our Lady of Fatima. When JFK was killed, school was closed and the only thing on TV was the funeral coverage and the OLOF movie. I don't know how many times we watched it but it left a huge impression on me.

[Elena]

Here's a commercial using the "Soup and Sandwich" jingle!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmbkucb_Dfc

[Karen]

YES! That was it! Thanks, Elena!

[Margaret]

I watched all those sitcoms too, but I don't remember the movies except the Red Balloon. You are quite a bit younger than I though.

[amy]

I got to watch Bewitched if I had to stay home from school sick. My mom would bring the TV into my room (!) and it was my favorite show, I always associate it with buttered cinnamon toast, flat ginger ale and maybe a soft-boiled egg (standard sick kid fare).

My favorite TV night was Friday nights, where we watched The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family (where I coveted Laurie's straight hair), Room 222, another sitcom that I don't recall (the odd couple?), and then, if we were at a sleepover and the mom hadn't checked on us yet, the incredibly titillating and risque "Love American Style". We were very quiet watching it (probably a dead giveaway to the parent) and tried to figure out what was going on before it was shut off.

I also remember Davy and Goliath on Sundays and The Red Balloon, which was both fascinating and disturbing. We watched Disney movies at night and, if we were lucky, there'd be a Jacque Costeau special on. Made me choose Oceanographer for a career choice for quite a while. Well, that and "teacher", because I also loved the young woman (Karen something?) in room 222.

[Sharon]

Davey and Goliath, Gumby and The Red Balloon take me right back to the living room with the huge console tv in the house where I grew up. Also, I was named after Ethelinn Block's character, Sharon Stopps from Room 222.

[nina]

Oh man, you guys, this is a trip. Yes, to Davy & Goliath and Gumby, and I too, LOVED Friday nights and the killer Partridge Family, Brady Bunch combo. We also were regular watchers of Truth or Consequences. And Flipper. And that one with the bear. Then later, when we were older there was Emergency.

[nina]

Oh, and I remember hating the Red Balloon. I think I was totally frustrated by it.

[Rachel K]

OMG, too funny. I remember all of that, but no one mentioned Three's Company, The Jeffersons, All in the Family, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley.... shall I go on? :)

[Karen]

Some years later this was our Saturday night line-up: Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett.

I loved Jacques Cousteau too, and of course Room 222, with Karen Valentine! And I remember Love American Style too -- very risque!!

And of course all those others.... Those were the days, eh?

[kate]

Wow! Some of you seem to have had my life. I haven't thought of Love American Style in years. We saw Wicked in Boston last week, and the Wizard was the "best friend" of John Ritter on Three's Company! You would have recognized hime!

[Mark]

So bummed that in all these postings, no one linked to my extensive page on the CBS Children's Film Festival with Kukla, Fran and Ollie:

http://kukla.tv/cbs.html